An oriental medicine doctor who earned income in the 5 billion won range but fled without paying 3.4 billion won in taxes has fully paid the entire amount in arrears after prosecutors launched a direct investigation.
According to legal sources on the 1st, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Tax Crime Investigation Division (Director General Yong Tae-ho) decided not to indict an oriental medicine doctor, identified as A, on Apr. 16 on suspicion of violating the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act, citing lack of evidence.
A was accused of failing to comply with a notice issued by the Samsung Tax Office in May 2020 to pay about 2.5 billion won in global income tax for the 2012–2018 tax years, and of being in arrears on taxes.
Authorities found that from 2012 for seven years, A ran a study group without registering as a business and earned a total of 5,268,000,000 won in income from lecture fees and consulting fees. It also emerged that from Mar. 2016 until just before receiving the payment notice in Mar. 2020, A concealed assets by donating about 3.2 billion won to spouse B.
When A did not comply with the payment notice, the Seoul Regional Tax Service applied to the prosecution in Jan. 2023 for a confinement trial. The court accepted the prosecution's request and ordered confinement for 30 days. This was the first case of a request and ruling for confinement since the related system was introduced.
The "high-amount and habitual tax delinquents confinement system" allows those who have failed to pay national taxes three or more times, one year has passed since the date the arrears occurred, and whose total arrears are at least 200 million won to be confined in a facility for up to 30 days.
However, the confinement could not be carried out at the time because A fled. The Seoul Regional Tax Service then referred A and spouse B to prosecutors in Sept. 2023 on suspicion of evading a disposition for arrears. Launching a direct investigation, prosecutors questioned spouse B, tracked A's whereabouts, arrested A on Jan. 31, 2024, and confined A at the Seoul Detention Center.
During the prosecutorial investigation, A expressed a willingness to voluntarily pay taxes. A then fully paid 3.4 billion won in global income tax and additional tax in Feb.
However, prosecutors decided not to indict, determining that A's concealment acts, including the donation, took place before receiving the payment notice and therefore did not meet the elements of the crime of evading a disposition for arrears under the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act.